The University of Texas Rio Grande Valley School of Medicine on Wednesday, April 25, 2018 hosted a grand opening of its UT Health RGV Pediatric Specialty office, located at 4150 Crosspoint Blvd. in Edinburg. The specialty office aims to close gaps in access to general and specialty care for children, with services that include general pediatrics, pulmonary, developmental, and metabolic and genetic disorders. The grand opening included tours of the facility and a ribbon cutting ceremony attended by Rep. Terry Canales, D-Edinburg, Edinburg Mayor Richard Molina, Mayor Pro Tem David Torres, Councilmember Gilbert Enríquez and other community and university leaders. Molina, the Edinburg mayor, expressed the community’s excitement about the pediatrics practice bringing much-needed care to the region. “Families are not going to have to travel anymore to Corpus Christi or San Antonio or Houston,” he said. “Now they can come to UT Health RGV Pediatric Specialty Clinic and get the very best medical care close to home. As your mayor, I couldn’t be more proud to say, it’s one more step toward a healthier community.” The Edinburg Mayor and Edinburg City Council, along with the Edinburg Economic Development Corporation and its Board of Directors, lobby the Texas Legislature and the UT System Board of Regents on matters that benefit and protect UTRGV and its School of Medicine, which have major campuses in the city.

Featured: Rep. Terry Canales, D-Edinburg, prepares to read from “Fox in Socks”, which is part of the famous Dr. Seuss series of books for children, to students at Lyndon B. Johnson Elementary School in Edinburg on Friday, March 2, 2018. Canales, whose support for public education in the Texas Legislature is one of his highest priorities, is asking Gov. Greg Abbott to call a special session to help the more than a quarter-million retired Texans and their dependents struggling with higher monthly premiums and less coverage through the Teacher Retirement System’s TRS-Care.

Featured, from left: Councilmember Jorge Salinas, Mayor Pro-Tem David Torres, John H. Krouse, Dean of the University of Texas Rio Grande Valley School of Medicine and Vice President of Health Affairs at UTRGV, and Mayor Richard Molina, following Krouse’s keynote speech at the Edinburg Conference Center at Renaissance, held on Wednesday, January 31, 2018, as part of the Public Affairs Luncheon organized by the Edinburg Chamber of Commerce.

Photograph By RONNIE LARRALDE

A plan to build a $12.2 million Classroom and Office Building for the University of Texas Rio Grande Valley’s School of Medicine in Edinburg will be considered in Austin when the University of Texas System Board of Regents meets on Monday, February 26, 2018 and Tuesday, February 27, 2018, according to Rep. Terry Canales, D-Edinburg, and the Edinburg Economic Development Corporation. Once finished, with the substantial completion date projected for November 2019, the School of Medicine Classroom and Office Building will increase enrollment at the Edinburg campus from 100 to 200 students within one year of completion. The construction could begin as early as September 2018. “This facility is necessary to accommodate current and expected growth in the School of Medicine while maintaining the mission of the school as a catalyst for education in health care,” states the executive summary provided to the UT System Board of Regents by UT System leaders. “The building will house faculty and administrative offices, small group study spaces for the growing medical student population, flexible and general purpose classrooms, conference rooms, and support spaces.” The proposed project will be an extension of the existing $54 million, 88,260 gross-square-foot Medical Education Building, which opened in the summer of 2016, when the first class of future physicians began their advanced studies in Edinburg. The Edinburg EDC is the jobs-creation arm of Mayor Richard Molina, Mayor Pro-Tem David Torres, Councilmember Homer Jasso, Jr., Councilmember Gilbert Enríquez, and Councilmember Jorge Salinas. The Edinburg EDC Board of Directors is comprised of City Councilmember Gilbert Enríquez as President, Edinburg School Board Trustee Miguel “Mike” Farías as Vice-President, Isael Posadas, P.E., as Secretary/Treasurer, and Julio César Carranza and Noé Sauceda, Ph.D. as Members. Canales represents House District 40, of which UTRGV and its School of Medicine have major campuses in the heart of Edinburg.

Featured: Rep. Terry Canales, D-Edinburg, left, is interviewed by Mark Hanna, Publisher, Rio Grande Guardian, on Thursday, January 25, 2018, at Bob’s Steak and Chop House in Edinburg. The two men discussed numerous major issues relating to the Texas Legislature, South Texas, and Hidalgo County. That conversation, which was broadcast live and is available on the Rio Grande Guardian, which is South Texas’ first online newspaper, is available at no cost by logging on to: https://www.facebook.com/rgguardian/videos/1800590286640933/?sid=0.46409932360984385 .

Photograph By STEVE TAYLOR

National Federation of Independent Business (NFIB)/Texas, the state’s leading small business association, has announced that Rep. Terry Canales, D-Edinburg, is the only state legislator from Hidalgo County – and only one of three Democrats in the Texas Legislature – who earned a perfect 100 percent rating on key measures of vital importance to small businesses in the state. “Small businesses are the life blood of our South Texas economy, and I will always make an effort to support policies that help small businesses grow, operate, and flourish,” said Canales, the House District 40 lawmaker. “I invite anyone who has ideas to help small businesses to contact me with their vision, and I will help them learn about and become part of the state legislative process.” He may be reached at his House District Office in Edinburg at (956) 383-0860 or at the Capitol at (512) 463-0426. House District 40 includes portions or all of Edinburg, Elsa, Faysville, La Blanca, Linn, Lópezville, McAllen, Pharr and Weslaco. “These distinguished lawmakers understand and value the true backbone of Texas’ economy, small business owners, and the impact public policy changes will have on these owners’ abilities to own, operate, and grow their businesses,” said NFIB Executive Director Will Newton. “Lawmakers who vote with small business during session are fulfilling their campaign promises to keep the Texas economy robust, as small businesses account for 99.8 percent of all businesses in the state.”